Communication is Key to Lean Six Sigma Deployment

Posted by on May 22, 2011 in Lean Six Sigma | 0 comments

In my view, it is impossible to over-communicate your efforts to deploy any continuous improvement effort.  My experience has been that no matter how well you communicate you will always have those that feel they are not getting enough information.  Just about every source on deployment has a chapter or section devoted to communication and what you can do to avoid problems.
It goes without saying the top management of any organization needs to be kept current on any deployment efforts.  What projects are currently being worked?  What areas of the organization are working projects?  Do the projects align with the organizational goals?  What savings are being realized?  How many people have achieved certification?  Who are they?  How do you and upper management know when a project is completed?  What are the lessons learned?  Can there be read-across to other areas? How do you celebrate project closure?
In addition to top management, other stakeholders will require constant communication.  A communication plan is a tool that can be used to help facilitate this effort.  This is an important process because it can significantly affect the impression that employees have of the improvement effort.  Try to use different media in your communication.  E-mail is a great communication tool, but using bulletin boards, newsletters, meetings, videos, etc. are also good sources to use to communicate progress and commitment.
An example of a communication plan for an organization beginning to implement Lean Six Sigma to educate employees in the process might include the following:
  • What is Lean Six Sigma?
  • Why are we pursuing it?
  • What are the benefits and what do we hope to achieve?
  • How will we deploy Lean Six Sigma?
  • How does Lean Six Sigma tie to the business strategy?
  • What are the roles of employees, i.e., team members, sponsors, champions, etc.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.